Hood capping bottles



Oct. 18, 1938. R. F. HUNTLEY HOOD CAPPING BOTTLES Filed Sept. 50. 1930 Patented et. l8, 1938 7 2,133,861 A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOOD OAPPING BOTTLES Robert F. Huntley, Fulton, N. Y., minor to Oswego Falls Corporation, Fulton, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 30, 1930, Serial No. 485,517

' 8 Claims. (Cl. 215-38) This invention relates to the art of hood capporarily in a softened condition, in intimate conping bottles. and by bottles I include containers tact with the container surface until set hard. composed in whole or in part of various materials The thin flexible sheet hood cap is composed, and of various forms and structures, by the use in whole or in part, of a suitable pre-exis'ting I of thin almost film-like sheet material, that is sheet of cellulose ester composition, suchascellupreferably transparent to render the indicia on lose acetate, cellulose nitrate, orv other thin sheet the ordinary disk closures in the bottle mouths of equivalent composition or material that posclearly visible; and the objects and nature of the sesses the hereinbefore mentioned characterisinvention will be understood by those skilled in tics, or a preferably transparent base sheet of 10 the art in the light of the following explanations gelatin'or its equivalent having thin permanent 10 of what I now deem to be the preferred method surface coatings possessing the aforementioned of carrying out my invention, and in the light of characteristics'or composed of cellulose acetate or the following explanation of what I now believe cellulose nitrate, although the l composed of to be the preferred mechanical expression or emthin sheet homogeneous cellulose acetate combodiment of my invention from among other position is preferred. 5 formations and structures within the spirit and W the foregoing and Other Objects in View, scope thereof. my invention consists in certain novel method An object of the invention is to improve the .ste psyein certain novel features, formetlom. bottle hood capped and bottle hood capping art, and characteristics, as more fully and particularby attaining in said art advantages peculiar ly hereinafter described and specified. go

thereto through the production of a novel bottle R ing to the accompanying w nl mhood capping method and film-like sheet hood i s part hereof cap having a margin capable of being contracted P 8- 1 i8 8 P View 01 a thin flit r p l n to hood-cap securing form and of being fixed in hood cap disk composed of a sheet film of cellusaid secured form by strong unions directly unit- 10Se mat s c cellulose ester which :5

ing contacting surfaces of overlapping portions. cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate are exof said margin through coalescence of the mate flmples, e t Sheet of gelatin Or'eqillverial of such sheet surfaces where such cap is comt materiel Gee-ted with Dermflnehtly edhel'lhl posed of thin sheet material characterized by its fi ms -0 Preferably cellulose acetatepreferable transparency and thinness, resistance Fig-2 Shows i e elevation, hood l dish. 30

to moisture and dairy conditions, tensile strength, the di k E- in p t a y skirted'hood 0 D flexibility, toughness, resistance against severing f rm or cracking by bending or creasing, and by its- F 3 Shows the heel! and heed P01150110! a capacity, under suitable treatment, of becoming bottle e t covered hood pl in se- 86 temporarily soft or tacky at its surfaces, and of coma-nee With y inventiondirectly uniting surface to surface by strong (11- 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional View rect union through coalescence of the material thmugh a the annual? secured 1101110- thereof, when such softened surfaces are held geneous-ceuulose acetate or its eqmvalent' thin pressed together until such merging surfaces are sheet margin or skirt of the and the 40 set hard bottle portion backing the same, indicating the 40 sealing adhering contact of set inner surfaces'of g g i f ggi ggzf g the mventlon to the contracted secured hood cap sheet n-s n capped and with the bottle surface and also by dotted lines capping art, by the provision of a hood cap comdiagrammatically indicating set surface portions 4 posed in whole or in part of thin sheet cellulose of overlapping folds of said sheet margin merged 5 acetate composition, or its equivalent, secured in and strongly united coalexence of the mi hood capped form on the bottle head by over- -1 t n lapp marginal p t s f su cap united su These film-like transparent sheets are tough, face to surface by the coalescence of-the matet n d yet sumciently flexible for my purrlalof such sur aces, t Such marginal po poses, and can be creased and folded for my 50 tions having inner surfaces in intimate adhering purposes th t severing cracking or t sealing contact with the container surface, where i becoming pervlous or perforate to the pasde ir an apable of being stripped therefrom, sage or absorption of moisture." These materials such adheringsealing contact being attained by are, in fact, waterproof and moisture resistant ll h S h 18st n m c s, While temand are not aifected by atmospheric or other 5 ,temperatures to which bottled milk, and other filled and capped containers, for which my invention is adapted, are subjected, and furthermore such sheets or films are exceedingly clean 5 and pleasing in appearance for container capping purposes, and are odorless and will not contaminate the contents of the container, and such sheets can be either obtained or manufactured of various thicknesses that may be required for varions container capping requirements, although for ordinary bottle hood caping, film-like sheets of but a few thousandths of an inch in thickness will be employed. h

Also, for the purpose of exteriorly covering or l 5 -hood. capping containers, the before-mentioned sheets or films possess the required strength and toughness, and resistance to moistureand atmospheric and bottling plant conditions to withstand treatment to which such capped containers are subjected during handling and shipment, and *yet are not of such characteristics as to preclude ready removal or severing in the house or elsewhere, to permit access to and removal of the.

container contents. The hood cap disks l and 2, are composed of pre-existing thin flexible imperforate sheets of cellulose acetate composition, or the equivalents thereof, possessing the characteristics substantially as hereinbefore set forth. The hood capping disk i is of large diameter, to provide a transparent center to cover and close the bottle or other container mouth and, rest on and cover the lip surrounding said mouth, and an annular margin of the necessary radial width to permit folding and gathering thereof downwardly in the form of a depending annular skirt 3, around and covering the exterior rim or enlargement of the bottle head, and contraction of said skirt tightly under and around said rim, with the surplus material taken up along the dotted lines, Fig. 1, or otherwise by pleats, folds, or the like, I, which can be pressed against the bottle surface backing the same, into tight overlapping formation, indi cated by Figs. 3 and 4, to secure the hood cap margin or skirt, in contracted securing form on the bottle head.

Fig. 2 shows the thin cellulose ester sheet disk 2, in pre-formed partial hood cap or dished shape. 7 a Any suitable means or method can be employed or followed, in applying the specified hood cap sheet to the bottle head and folding and gathering the margin thereof downwardly and to the exterior of the bottle head to final hood cap a secured formation.

Usually, suitable annular mechanical gathering, folding, and clamping heads are employed for this purpose, to bring about the desired snug fit of the completed hood cap in final secured form on the bottle head.

Such clamping head will surround the contracted margin of the hood cap, and will hold the contacting temporarily softened or tacky surfaces of the overlapping marginal portions tightly pressed together and against the backing bottle surface, until such contacting portions have merged together by coalescence of the material thereof and set to permanent condition. The sheet surfaces to be thus merged, are, in this example, rendered soft or tacky, by slight application of a usually highly volatile solvent of the particular cellulose ester sheet material of which the hood cap is composed.

When a cap composed of one of the hereinbe- 1" fore described, or an equivalent, film or sheet, is

lescence of the material thereof. The welding or applied to a container head, a small quantity of a volatile solvent for the particular material of the cap, is applied, preferably,-only to the outer surface of the lower end portion of the cap skirt, and the cap molding or closing head contracts the creased, folded or gathered skirt under the bottle rim and compresses the same radially inwardly against the annular bottle surface, pressing together the solvent softened overlapped surfaces of the sheet into uniting welding contact and thus holding the same until the solvent has evaporated and the material has setand hardened with the previously softened surfaces merged together and permanently united by coa- 15 uniting action takes place rapidly and the setting or hardening is quickly eifected, as the solvents \are highly volatile and the entire operation,

' tion of the cap skirt, to avoid possibility of causing the surface of the skirt to strongly adhere to the bottle or container surfaces with which it comes in contact, and objectionably fouling the .container surfaces on removal of the cap, how- -3() ever my invention does not preclude applying the solvent to both the inner and outer surfaces of Y the cap particularly where, to meet certain con-' ditions, itis desired to seal the cap skirt to the container surface surrounded and engaged thereby.

It is only necessary to apply the solvent to those portions of the outer surface of the cap skirt, that do not contact with the container surfaces, where the folds of that skirt are pressed radially inwardly or together bythe capping head, at which points the solvent softened material will almost instantly weld or fiow into each other when said surfaces are pressed together by the contracting sealing tool or head. However, as a matter of convenience, I have applied the volatile solvent completely around the desired portion of the exterior surface of the cap skirt to soften the same.

I have found that when some of the material from which the cap is made is dissolved in the solvent before the solvent is applied to the cap a better seal is effected.

If during the application of this cap an excess of solvent is applied, it may be seen that the solvent might dissolve a hole in the film. To overcome this and retard the drastic action of the solvent on the film, a material known to the trade as a non-solvent is used. This is a substance which as the name signifies will not dissolve the film but which is readily miscible with the solvent. By using these non-solvents it is possible to get a solution with the minimum amount of solvent in it. Inasmuch as the solvent is the expensive item these non-solvents decrease the cost.

Some of the non-solvents which may be used are: benzol, toluol, xylol, and solvent naphtha.

7 When a piece of any of the above films is moistened with a solvent for that film it will immediately soften and if enough solvent is added, it will dissolve completely. If there is just enough solvent applied to the surface of one of these films to soften it, the film may be joined to another film by the application of pressure.

For welding a disk or sheet composed of or having a surface coating of cellulose nitrate, I usu- 7s ally employ as a solvent, acetone, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, anyl acetate, butyl propionate, among others; and for a sheet of cellulose acetate, one of the following solvents, among others, namely;--acetone, triacetin, ethyl lactate, methyl acetone, methyl acetate.

If the hood cap secured on the container head, as before described, is composed of a very thin light weight sheet of the cellulose material, the secured cap can be easily removed from the container head by twisting and tilting and lifting 011 the cap by hand. Where the secured cap is composed of a thicker heavier cellulose material sheet, of greater tensile strength than the first named sheet, it may be sometimes necessary to puncture the top portion of the cap by the use of a sharp instrument and then tear down the cap skirt to permit expansion of the cap skirt and removal of the cap from the container head. The cellulose material is tough and while resistant against puncture is more easily torn.

What I claim is:-

1. A bottle having a head, and a hood cap disk closing and covering said head and having a depending annular skirt fitting and contracted under said head and held in hood cap securing form and condition by the directly contacting faces of overlapping portions of said skirt merged together by coalescence of the material thereof, said hood cap disk formed by a thin strong transparent sheet of cellulose acetate material that is dry, non-absorbent and flexible.

2. A flexible transparent cap for milk bottles consisting of a sheet of a homogeneous cellulose ester having its central portion extending across the top of a bottle and having its margins conforming to the contour of the neck of the bottle and united by coalescence of the material.

3. A protective hood for milk bottles having the usual printed cap forming the official label comprising a sheet ofhomogeneous transparent material having a smooth portion over the printed cap and having the margins surrounding the smooth portion formed in overlapping folds having the adjacent surfaces united by coalescence of the material.

4. The combination with a bottle of the character described, of a hood cap consisting of transparent cellulose ester sheet material having a pleated skirt portion free from deposit forming adhesive and sealed to the bottle neck solely by a partially dissolved and dried surface portion of the skirt, the cap having the property of readily stripping from the bottle without leaving a deposit on the bottle neck.

5. In the method of hood capping containers.

those steps which comprise applying to the container head a hood cap blank of transparent flexible thin sheet material having at least a face of cellulose ester material; gathering and contracting the skirt of said blank to and under the container head in overlapping folded layers, softening the adjacent surfaces of overlapping layers of the skirt sumciently to render them tacky, and holding said overlapping layers together until said faces are integrally united by coalescence of the material.

6. In the method of hood capping containers, those steps which comprise applying to the container head a hood cap blank of transparent flexible thin cellulose ester material, gathering and contracting the. skirt of said blank to and under the container head in overlapping folded layers, softening the adjacent surfaces of overlapping layers of the skirt sufficiently to render them tacky by applying thereto a solvent for the material, and holding said overlapping layers together until said layers are integrally united by coalescence of the material.

7. In the method of hood capping containers, those steps which comprise applying to the container head a hood cap sheet of transparent flexible thin cellulose acetate material, gathering and contracting the skirt of said sheet to and under the container head in overlapping layers, softening the adjacent surfaces of overlapping layers sufliciently to render them tacky, and holding said overlapping layers with said softened surfaces contacting under pressure until said surfaces merge together by coalescence of the material thereof and set to hardened condition.

8. A bottle hood cap composed of a transparent thin cellulose acetate sheet having its central portion covering the bottle mouth and its depending margin surrounding and conforming to by overlapping portions the contacting surfaces of which are united by coalescence of the material thereof into hardened unions.

ROBERT I. HUN'I'LEY. 

